Improbable Magic
by Atlantis Founded
Summary: Regina reluctantly agrees to help Emma after a break-in at Gold's shop. Crossing realms, old legends, and the darkest of magic bring the two closer than ever before. When a heart is broken, it may be the improbable that will save them both. SQ


Emma sat staring out the window, only half paying attention to the mayor as she explained the new procedure for the filing of forms. Emma hated paperwork but now that imminent threat had passed for Storybrooke, she was left with the reality of working in a small town – it was usually fairly boring. When Regina began to discuss the new indexing system, Emma was quietly hoping for an ice creature or a smoke monster, anything that would break the monotony of yet another form.

"Ms. Swan, are you paying attention?" the mayor asked irritated.

"Huh? Yeah, I got it. Complete in triplicate, one for the sheriff's office, one for the mayor's office and one for town council records," she replied back bored.

"Your enthusiasm for town safety is palpable," Regina retorted sarcastically.

"Town safety, yes. More forms, not so much," Emma explained.

"Ms. Swan, record keeping is a matter of town safety. By providing-"

Regina was cut off as the Sheriff's phone vibrated, lighting up on the mayor's desk. Emma grabbed it quickly and answered.

"Yes? Where? Got it, I'll be right there," Emma stood up, leaving the mayor seated and in disbelief that she had been cut off.

"Are you leaving?" Regina asked.

"Yes, actual town safety. Someone broke into Gold's shop," she explained. "I'm meeting David down there to investigate."

Regina was irritated that their meeting had been cut short. It wasn't the seriousness of the paperwork process but more that she enjoyed Emma's company, something she was loathe to admit to herself. But, through time, they had forged some kind of friendship though neither would admit it.

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When Emma arrived, David was speaking to Gold, nodding his head, arms across his chest.

"What's the deal?" she inquired.

"I arrived this morning to see that the rear door had been pried open and walked into the shop to find this" he gestured. While not destroyed, the shop was in visible disarray. Drawers and cabinets had been opened but not emptied, glass cases designed to hold valuables were carefully opened, not shattered.

"Do you know what's missing?" she asked him.

He looked around and sighed. "I don't know. Let me look around. Why don't the two of you start doing your jobs while I see what's been taken," he scoffed and wandered off.

"Well he's cheerful," Emma said sarcastically.

David snorted, "As cheerful as ever."

"What do you make of it?" he asked her.

"I don't know. It's curious. Someone has been very careful and was clearly looking for something specific. There are a lot of valuable items in here but are untouched. Whatever it is is small, small enough that they believed it could be hidden in something else. Why else would they go to the trouble to open each drawer and cabinet," she explained.

"That was my thought. It's not your everyday petty theft. Whoever broke in here had an agenda," he agreed.

David and Emma continued to walk around the shop talking, waiting for Gold's report.

"That's strange," he said aloud.

"What's strange?" Emma asked, walking toward Gold.

"The only thing that's missing is a necklace," he told her, showing her an empty box that clearly once held an antique necklace.

"What kind of necklace?" she asked him.

"The black ruby necklace," he told her flatly.

"Valuable?"

He scoffed, "no, that's ridiculous. The black ruby necklace is worthless unless-" he stopped himself.

"Unless what?" Emma pushed.

"Nothing," he quickly answered, "in fact, I think I'm mistaken. I may have misplaced it. Nothing is missing. Thank you for coming but I don't see any reason for us to move forward."

Gold's agitation gave him away but he was persistent, shooing them out the door.

When the door was shut behind them and the closed sign flipped over, David and Emma looked at each other in shock.

"What was that?" Emma asked.

"I don't know. But if it involves Gold, it can't be good," he told her.

"Agreed. Do you know anything about this black ruby necklace?"

"No, but I would wager it's magical, dark magic. Gold had it, it's missing, and now he's interested in it again. I don't think it was just his great aunt Matilda's," he explained.

"I was thinking the same thing. I could probably think better with a little something to eat though. Granny's?"

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Regina hated Wednesdays. Henry would leave for school on Wednesday morning but wouldn't come back to her house until Saturday afternoon, spending the remainder of the week with Emma. Regina did love Saturday. Partially because Henry came back home, but also because Emma brought him back and they developed a ritual of having a cup of coffee when she dropped him off, talking for a bit, sometimes having a family dinner before returning to her house. When her house was full, when Henry and Emma were there laughing and smiling, it made the whole place brighter, happier. Regina was disgusted with herself for admitting it.

Just as Regina had settled in with a glass of wine and a book, her doorbell rang. Sighing, she carefully placed her book on the coffee table and rose to answer the door. She was surprised to find Emma on her doorstep.

"Need a calendar, Ms. Swan?" she asked, "I wasn't expecting you until Saturday."

"I know, but I'm working on a case and….I need your help."

Regina showed Emma in and directed her to the living room, offering her a glass of wine before resettling on the couch.

Emma watched Regina draw her legs gently underneath her and to the side, her arm draping just so over the arm of the couch, enough to where she could easily bend her elbow, giving her the perfect angle to rest her head to the side. Regina stayed quiet while she watched Emma watching her, Emma unaware that her actions had been noticed.

"You need my help?" she interrupted.

Emma reeled for a moment, "yes. I told you there was a break-in at Gold's shop. When we got there, we looked around and when he figured out what was missing, he got all cagey with me. So David and I figured that whatever it was had to be dark so the only person I knew to go to was-"

"Me." Regina finished for her.

Emma shifted uncomfortably. "Well yeah. I mean, I don't think you have anything to do with this robbery or anything."

"Your vote of confidence is overwhelming," Regina responded.

"It's just that Gold has this thing with dark magic and no one really messes with that around here except you," she tried to backpedal.

"You're not helping dig yourself out, Sheriff. What kind of necklace is it?" she asked.

"He said it was a black ruby necklace," she explained.

"Well it is worthless," Regina told her.

Emma waited, knowing there was a story behind it.

Regina put her wine down on the table and shifted. "The black ruby necklace is probably more legend now than anything. The story goes that a dark sorcerer once found two black rubies, the rarest of gems in all the realms. They were perfectly identical, something that is impossible if you know anything about stones – there are never two identically cut diamonds or rubies or emeralds or anything. There are too many minute imperfections, even a pair of seemingly matching diamond earrings are different in some way. So to find two identical gems would be impossible and to find two black rubies would be beyond imagination."

Emma nodded, intrigued by the story.

"The sorcerer had been working for decades to find the source of ultimate power. He was terrified of dying and wanted to find a way to live on forever. He believed that if he could contain the darkest of magic from the darkest of hearts, he could channel that and keep himself encased in a spell that would keep him young forever. The story says he found these two black rubies but when he held them both in his hand, a spirit was released from them. The spirit told him that the ultimate power he sought could not be contained and that he was 'looking backwards from outside.' The sorcerer laughed at the spirit and took the gems with him. He had been working on channeling dark magic from other practitioners, usually killing them in the process. Every time he drew out their energy, he couldn't capture the energy fast enough to harness it, it simply dissipated. He decided that he needed something that could funnel and filter that energy to him. He put one of the stones in a necklace that fell over his heart and the other into a ring setting placed on his right ring finger. When he captured his next victim, he strengthened his incantation and was able to bleed off their energy through the ring which then sent it to the necklace and into his heart. He was growing increasingly powerful, thinking he would meet his goal."

"Did it work?" Emma asked.

"He grew more and more powerful with each soul he destroyed, bringing their dark magic into his heart. But, the spirit was right. Nothing can, or should, hold that much dark magic. One day he captured someone too strong for him, whose darkness should never have been tampered with. As the sorcerer siphoned off the energy to the ring, the ring setting could no longer hold that kind of magic and it shattered, disintegrating to dust. The necklace was useless. It could no longer be used to drain magic."

"What happened to him?"

"The person whose magic he was trying to capture wasn't just anyone, it was The Dark One."

"Rumplestiltskin?" she asked wide-eyed.

"No, this was several Dark Ones before Rumplestiltskin, but who it was remains a mystery. Anyway, the Dark One regained his power and destroyed the sorcerer, leaving only the necklace behind. It became a pretty unimportant and not very attractive bauble. I'm surprised Gold even has it," she finished.

Emma sat for a minute processing. "So, the necklace doesn't do anything now?"

Regina shook her head. "No, it can't. The necklace required the ring to work. One couldn't work without the other and because they were a perfect match, that magic could never be recreated. And that the experiment itself was such a failure, no one ever tried to make it work again."

"There's no way to make the necklace work? No one could use that to drain other people's magic?"

"No. The necklace doesn't do anything."

"Why would someone want it? Who would want it?" Emma asked.

"That my dear, is a very good question."

Emma watched Regina sip from the glass. She imparted the information to her as if it were nothing but an old story she had heard and gave no regard to, but in Storybrooke, every story could be so much more and Emma couldn't understand why Regina didn't seem to notice.

"Why aren't you more concerned about this? This seems like a big deal," Emma asked, almost irritated.

"Ms. Swan, it would be a big deal if there were any chance in the world that something could come of it," Regina told her.

"We seem to live in a place where the most impossible seems possible," Emma retorted.

Regina raised her glass, "Fair point. You are sitting in my living room while I talk to you in my pajamas. Anything _is_ possible," she smirked.

Emma blushed for a moment. "Look, I know this doesn't seem like a big deal to you but Gold has me worried. You didn't see the way he changed. I don't know what he was thinking, but it certainly wasn't good. Will you help me?"

Regina set her glass on the coffee table and sighed, "I suspect that if I don't, you won't leave me in peace. Yes, I'll help you, but on one condition."

"Name your price," Emma said.

Regina winced, "Condition Ms. Swan, not a price. I'm not Rumplestiltskin."

"Sorry," Emma apologized, "what's the condition?"

"That you listen to me," Regina told her.

"Sure, no problem," Emma agreed quickly.

Regina huffed, "Hmph, I doubt that. I'm serious. You are a novice and I am an expert with magic. You will listen to me and heed my advice and my warnings."

"Sure," Emma said.

Regina appeared irritated. "Ms. Swan, despite your luck to present, magic is unpredictable and dangerous and requires careful handling. I will help you on this ridiculous quest if only to preserve my own sanity, but again, I will be handling this. You are merely my support."

"Got it," Emma nodded. "Magic, dangerous. Regina, magic ninja."

Regina rolled her eyes. "Where do you suppose we begin? I'm sure you didn't come here without _any_ ideas."

"Well, I thought maybe we'd start by getting more information on this amulet, ring, rock… thingie."

Regina looked at her blankly, "that's your plan? To get more information on the 'thingie'?"

"Well yeah," Emma said sheepishly. "Remember where you wanted to be in charge? You got a better idea and I'm in."

Regina sighed, "I suppose more information is a start. I'll meet you at the library tomorrow morning at 8am. And Ms. Swan, in the interest of preserving my good humor, please endeavor to be on time."

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Emma walked into the library balancing two coffees in her hand, phone in the other. Regina looked up at the clock, "Well done, Ms. Swan, you made it here with two minutes to spare."

Emma smiled, "I also brought you coffee."

Regina took the coffee and nodded her thanks.

"So," Emma shrugged, "learned anything yet?"

"No, Belle is pulling some volumes from the rare books collection for us to look through. There is probably something on gems here as well."

"Yeah, 553.8," she said and walked towards the shelves. Regina dismissed her comment and went back to her reading.

Emma and Regina continued their research separately, neither acknowledging the other or asking questions. Their work continued throughout the day without much progress, by the late evening, Emma's neck was starting to hurt and she was developing a headache.

"Anything?" Emma asked.

"If I had found something, don't you think I would have told you?" Regina said irritated.

"What about this one?" the librarian said, bringing out a large, worn volume. Emma walked over to them, curious.

"It's in Cragish, do you read Cragish?" Belle asked.

"Ms. Swan reads on a third grade level, I would suggest something for her with pretty pictures," she said with a smirk. She expected the barb to elicit some reaction from Emma but the bright light in her green eyes dimmed as she turned away.

"Thanks for your help, Belle," Emma called. "I should probably call it a day. Goodnight."

Regina was stunned. There was no retort, no hands on the hip huff, nothing but a look of hurt. She felt badly and that was unusual, but something had clearly struck a nerve with her. Regina gave her thanks and rushed out to catch up with Emma who had vanished into the evening. Taking a guess, Regina walked toward the Rabbit Hole and there at the bar sat Emma, jacket still on, hands wrapped around a glass. Regina watched her for a moment as she turned the glass slowly, watching the liquid inside it intently. She was in deep thought.

"Ms. Swan," Regina said as she sat down. "Decided to drink your troubles away? That's rather cliché."

Emma looked up at her and then back to her drink. Regina was uncomfortable. She liked Emma's fight but her attempts to rile her fell flat.

"Not much progress today, perhaps we should continue tomorrow?" she asked changing the subject.

"Sure, Regina," Emma replied without looking at her, "just tell me when and where to be."

"Library again tomorrow morning? Belle has more books we haven't tried yet."

"No problem," Emma replied.

Regina moved uncomfortably in her chair. "Are you okay?" she asked. She didn't even believe she was asking that question.

"Of course, thank you."

"I may not have your superpower, but I suspect you're lying to me," Regina turned to look at her directly.

"Regina," Emma started, "I agreed to let you be in charge. I told you I would do what you said and listen to you, but I'm not stupid."

"I never said you were stupid," Regina said defensively.

"You pretty much did. You can say anything else about me you want. I know you like to make fun of me and bully me for pretty much everything else – my looks, my parents, my past, my car – but this is…" Emma shook her head and took a drink before looking at her.

"I have been called stupid my entire life. Social workers, teachers, foster parents, they all told me I was dumb, but I'm not dumb. I didn't get to finish school and I was always behind because I was moved so much. But I'm curious and I like to learn stuff, I just didn't get a chance to. So say whatever you need to hurt me, but not that. Okay?" Emma said honestly.

Regina looked at her for a moment. There was an unknown depth to her honesty and it frightened her. She nodded her head. "You're right. I didn't really think about it. I…don't know why I say things without thinking but it won't happen again."

Emma nodded, "Thanks."

"You know, for what it's worth, I don't think you're stupid at all," Regina told her. Emma looked up at the brunette beside her and nodded with a small smile.

"I'll order you a drink, tomorrow's going to be a big day," Emma told her.

No real apology or real forgiveness had been offered, but it was enough to get them back on track.


End file.
